Twisted Love
by twstrzgirl
Summary: (Rocket Power) Sequel to Matters of the Heart. Twister and Reggie are dating and Otto still isn't thrilled about it. Then, things get even more complicated when Reggie meets a guy from out of town. Read to see what happens [FINISHED...finally!]
1. Ch 1: Memories

Twisted Love

Author:  Twstrzgirl

Rated:  PG13 for language (later on) and situations

A/N:  I got the idea for this fic from the song "Picture" (thanks to those who corrected my mistake) by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow.  It's a sequel to Matters of the Heart that I wrote last summer.  That fic is summarized in the first chapter (from Otto's point of view), but it would make more sense if you go back and read the whole thing.  Well, actually this is the third installment because Twisted Fate was first, but that doesn't really have much to do with this one.  Anyway, Here goes...PLEASE REVIEW!!!

A/N2:  Don't read if you hate Rocket Power.  It would really be kind of pointless.  

Disclaimer:  I don't own Rocket Power or the song "Picture".  You can sue if you want, but I don't have any money so you won't get much.  

Chapter 1:  Memories 

Otto Rocket set up in his bed and groaned.  His head was pounding and the muscles in his arms felt like they were on fire.   He flopped back down on his pillow and let his mind run through the events that led up to the reason that he felt this way.  

'It's all Twister's fault.' Otto's face would have distorted into a scowl at that thought if his head didn't hurt so badly.  If Twister hadn't decided to date his sister none of this would have happened.  Realistically, Otto knew that it wasn't _all_ Twister's fault.  Reggie is as much to blame for returning Twister's affections and his brother, Lars, is the one who ultimately sent Twister over the edge.  In fact, the only person who couldn't be blamed was Sammy, who is usually clueless to what's going on unless it involves Robot Wars or the latest version of Microsoft Windows. 

 'Well, Sammy and me, of course, it definitely wasn't my fault' Otto thought to himself as he replayed the scenario in his head for the hundredth time.   Otto wasn't really one to accept the blame for anything.  

It all started when Lars told Otto to go to the pier where he knew that Twister and Reggie would be hanging out. According to Lars, Twister wanted to meet Otto there to "spend some time with his best bro." Little did Otto know that the whole thing was a just setup for him to see Twister and Reggie alone together.  Lars had conceived the evil plot out of jealousy because he had feelings for Reggie and was willing to do anything to break them up.  Knowing how Otto would react, Lars stabbed his own brother in the back by making sure that Otto found out about their secret.   Otto was totally clueless of the relationship until he saw the two of them kissing with his own eyes.  And that's when the shit hit the fan. 

"Are you going to lay in bed all day, or what Rocketboy?"  Reggie's voice startled him.  He opened his eyes to see her glaring at him impatiently from the doorway.  "Raymundo called and said that the surf's awesome today.  Get up!"

"I'm coming, just give me a few more minutes, Reg" he said and reached for the bottle of Tylenol on his nightstand.  He downed two of the pills with a glass of warm water from the previous night, and then settled back into his thoughts.  

The next part of the memory was mostly a blur because he had been in such a rage after seeing Twister kiss Reggie.  He remembered a lot of yelling, cursing, and threatening to pound Twister into the ground.  Sometime during the mist of all this, Twister actually did something intelligent and said that he would stay away from Reggie if she and Otto would stop arguing.  Then he just walked away.  Otto still couldn't figure out why Twister gave in.

After the incident, Otto had left Reggie in tears to go to Madtown and blow off some steam.  He couldn't believe that Twister and Reggie were going out.   It was Twister—for crying out loud—not exactly the most likely choice for Reggie's affections.   Although they had known Twister for as long as Otto could remember, he just couldn't picture them as a couple.  He was always under the impression that Reggie thought of him as a brother—definitely not a boyfriend.  

Otto had spent that entire night tossing and turning.  He kept thinking about the look on his best bro's face and the pain in Reggie's eyes when he'd left.  Then Otto realized that it wasn't just because Reggie was dating Twister.  It probably could have been anyone and he would have reacted the same.  Although Reggie was a year older than him, he still felt a strong brotherly need to protect her.  He couldn't protect her forever though.  At sixteen, Reggie was still a tomboy on the inside, but her appearance had blossomed into what most guys would call "hot."  He couldn't bring himself to accept the fact that his only sister was dating—especially dating Twister.  He felt like he was losing both of them.

Guilt washed over him as the minutes on the clock ticked the night away.  The whole situation still had his blood boiling, but for the first time ever, Otto Rocket was actually thinking about other people's feelings.

First thing the next morning, Otto had apologized to Reggie and said that he would be cool with she and Twister seeing each other.  He wasn't really okay with it, but he did it for Reggie's sake.  

That should have been the end of it, but then there was this little problem called Lars.  Reggie went over to see Twister that morning and Lars, thinking that she and Twister were broken up, kissed her.  Unfortunately, this happened at the exact moment that Twister was coming downstairs and he saw everything.  

Otto didn't know what happened at that point, but that afternoon Lars was pounding on their door clutching a note in his hand.  It turned out that Twister had this crazy notion to jump off a cliff, literally.

Luckily, they managed to get there before Twister actually jumped.  Chills ran down Otto's spine at the thought of what happened next.  He remembered Twister teetering on the edge of the cliff.  In slow motion, he saw his own hand reach out and grab Twister's shirt.  In the process, he lost his balance and went tumbling over the edge himself. He banged his head on the sharp rocks several times as he fell.  On the brink of losing consciousness he managed to grab hold of a branch on the way down.  Otto had never been so scared in his life, but he would never admit that to anybody.

After what seemed like eternity, Twister was able to climb down and help him up.  It was a miracle that no one was seriously hurt when it was over.  

As the memory came to a close once again, the pounding in Otto's head had finally stopped.  He knew that Reggie was probably fuming by now so he threw off the covers and rushed to get ready.  He bounded down the stairs and into the living room where he found Twister and Reggie on the couch, holding hands.  The sight made him cringe, but he quickly tried to shrug it off and act normal.  Maybe eventually he would get used to seeing them as a couple.  Right now though, he couldn't stand it.  He struggled to act like it was no big deal.  

"Hey guys, what's up?" Otto said, flashing a huge grin and hoped that they couldn't tell it was completely phony.

"Waiting on you Ottoman."  Twister said. 

"It's about time! What were you doing up there?" Reggie asked.

"Nothing" Otto shrugged.  "I just had a headache, thanks to my best bro here" he said and slapped Twister on the back.

"Yeah, sorry again about that dude."  Twister said as he examined the cuts and bruises on Otto's forehead. 

"No problemo.  I'm fine.  Now lets go get the Squid and catch some gnarly waves!"  Otto said, trying to quickly change the subject.

"Yeah Raymundo said there's eight foot swells today.  I can't wait!" Reggie said.  She grabbed Twister's hand and pulled him off the couch.  They followed Otto out the door.  

They arrived at Sammy's house, only to find his mother rubbing sunscreen all over him and giving him the whole "be careful" speech for the billionth time.  When Sammy saw his friends at the door he frowned and looked away, blushing.  He didn't mind being thought of as a nerd by most everybody in Ocean Shores, but the way his mother still treated him at fifteen was downright embarrassing.  He had come to terms with the fact that he was a computer geek compared to the cool, surfer crowd that most of the teenagers who lived there belonged to.  He would never be like Otto and Twister, but he had come a long way since moving there from Kansas.  But just because he wasn't carefree and laid back, didn't mean that his mother had to treat him like he was five years old.  

"I gotta go, Mom.  I'll see you tonight" Sam said when he saw Otto snicker on the other side of the glass door.  

"But I'm not finished with your back Sammy.  Hold on a second!"  She said, trying to pull him back.

"They're waiting on me Mom!"

"Okay, but take this and have one of your little friends put it on you when you get to the beach." She said and shoved the bottle of seventy-five strength sunscreen at him.  He hesitated, but took the bottle.  He told her bye one last time then ran out the door.  He could still hear his mother calling "you be careful now, honey" as he tossed the bottle of sunscreen into the flowerbed behind a large bush.  

"You be careful now or I won't buy you anymore smoopy-woopy-bear pajamas!" Otto said mockingly.  

"BUST!" Twister yelled, then he and Otto fell to the ground laughing hysterically.

Reggie had to struggle not to laugh herself.  The only thing that held her back was the knowledge that she had to stand up for Sam, or Otto and Twister would tease him mercilessly for the rest of the day.  She felt sorry for him in a way, but she also envied him for having a mother to fuss over him and tell him to be careful.  

"Can it, dorks!" Reggie said sternly.  "It's not Sammy's fault that his mom still thinks he's five."

"I know, but it sure is funny!" Otto said, clutching his sides from laughing so hard.

"And for your information, I haven't worn smoopy-woopy-bear pajamas in almost three years." Sammy said.

"Oh, so you're saying that you finally graduated to superman pj's!" Otto said.  He and Twister fell into another fit of laughter. 

If he were still the same person that had moved here from Kansas four years ago, Sam probably would have run crying back to his room.  Now he just shrugged it off.  He was used to being busted on by Otto and Twister.  He knew that they didn't mean anything by it.

"Are we going to discuss sleepwear all day, or are we going to surf?" Reggie asked, putting on her blades.  "Come on Sammy, let's go." 

"Okay, Okay, we're coming."  Otto said getting up off the ground.

The four friends bladed to the beach were they spend the rest of the morning surfing.  

A/N:  I know, kind of a lame way to end a chapter.  This chappie was basically just an intro to summarize Matters of the Heart.  It doesn't really get started until next chap.  


	2. Ch 2: Shoobies

Thanks to everyone for the reviews!  They fuel the obsession!  Also, a special thanks to Goofy Monkey Child and Roketpwrgrl022 for pointing out my mistake in the summary.  I fixed it—I don't know how I overlooked that.  It _would_ be pretty sick if Otto and Reggie were dating!!!  This chapter is kinda short, but enjoy! Ch. 2:  Shoobies 

After surfing all morning, Sammy started complaining about being hungry around noon so they went to she Shore Shack to grab a bite to eat. They carried their boards into the restaurant and plopped down at the counter.  

"What's up Tito?" Twister asked the large Hawaiian man behind the grill.

"Same ole thing little cuzzes.  What will it be today?"

"Make it the usual" the four said in unison.  

"Don't you want to try my new whipped cream and chocolate chip cookie dough pizza?" Tito asked.

The all look at each other and wrinkled their noses.  Tito took that as a "no."  "Four Shack Burgers, fries and strawberry shakes coming right up."

Otto looked over his shoulder to check on his board propped up by the wall and saw to guys about his age admiring it.  He'd noticed them when they came it, but didn't give them a second thought.  

The taller one was around sixteen.  He was good looking and muscular with shoulder-length dark brown hair and green eyes.  The other one was probably about fourteen.  He was shorter and less muscular with short blondish hair.  He had the same green eyes as his brother.  

"Hey dude!  Hands off the board!"  Otto got up from his seat and walked over to them.  Reggie, Sam and Twister followed him.

"Sorry man, we just thought that it's really awesome," the younger guy said.  

"Well it _is_ the latest model from Hurley.  I just got it two weeks ago" Otto said, bragging.  

"It's sweet!"  The older guy said.  

"Thanks." Otto said weakly, then turned to Twister and muttered "Shoobie" under his breath.  

"By the way, I'm Alex and this is my little brother Will.  We're on vacation with our parents from Arizona."  

"Nice to meet you."  Reggie spoke up.  "I'm Reggie, this is my brother Otto and our friends Twister and Sammy." 

"So when you're done eating, do you think that maybe you guys could show us how to surf." Alex asked.

"Not likely."  Otto snorted.

Alex was startled by Otto's smart remark. "Why?"

"It's just that we don't usually hang out with shoobies."  Otto said.  Reggie glared at him for being so obnoxious.

"What's a shoobie?" Will asked.

"A non-local, tourist, or in other words…lame-o" Otto said.

Alex narrowed his eyes.  He was clearly offended.  "Well I guess it is true what they say about you Californians."

"And what's that?" Otto asked.

"You really are a bunch of stuck-up, snotty assholes."

"Hey!  No one calls my bro stuck-up and snotty" Twister said defensively, moving to Otto's side.  

"Oh really. I think that I just did.  What are you going to do about it?" Alex asked..

"I'll show you what I'm going to do about it" Otto said through clenched teeth.  He was just about to throw a punch when Raymundo came out of the kitchen and noticed the commotion.  

"Otto!  What's going on?  Are you being rude to the customers again?"

Otto took a step back and put on his best 'I'm completely innocent' smile.  "I was just talking to the guys from Arizona.  Nothing's going on Raymundo.  You are way too stressed, dude!" 

Knowing that Otto was backed into a corner, Reggie took the opportunity to make-up for his behavior.  "I think that what Otto was about to say is that we'd love to show you how to surf."

"Yeah, that's right, we'd love to!" Otto flashed a huge smile at Raymundo.

"Burgers are up!" Tito called from the counter.

"We'll meet you outside in thirty minutes." Reggie said.

"Great!" Alex smiled at her.

"This is going to be a blast." Otto muttered sarcastically to Twister on their way back to the counter.

"I know. I can't wait." Twister muttered back. He had a really bad feeling about the way Alex had been looking at Reggie.  

A/N:  Sorry about Alex's remark about Californians—I hope it didn't offend anyone!  It's not true or anything. :-)


	3. Ch 3: Surf's Up

A/N:  Here's Ch. 3, I hope you like.  Please Review!!!!!!! Ch. 3:  Surf's Up 

Thirty minutes after finishing their burgers, Reggie, Otto, Twister and Sammy waited outside the Shore Shack for the "shoobies" to come back.  They weren't anywhere in sight.

"Maybe you scared them off, Ottoman." Twister said.  He was sitting on the rail of the pier with his arm around Reggie.

"Man, I hope so!  I can't believe you invited shoobies to hang out with us, Reggie."  He casually pulled of an ollie with his skateboard.

"Chill Rocketboy.  They seemed nice." Reggie said, getting annoyed.  "What do you have against shoobies?" 

"Yeah, Otto.  I was a shoobie at one time if you remember." Sammy said.

"Nah, you were just a Squid.  There's a difference between shoobies and squids."  Twister pointed out.

"Shoobies suck.  They throw trash all over the beach, get in the way of surfing and are all around lame-o's." Otto said.  "Besides, I thought you didn't like them either.  What's the deal, Reggie?" 

"The only reason I asked them to hang out is because you were so rude to them Otto.  Raymundo was about to bust you and you know it!  You better be nice to them."  

"Whatever" Otto mumbled as he grinded the rail.  "If they're not here in five minutes, I'm outta here."  

"I'm with you bro!" Twister said.  

Just then, they saw Alex and Will walking down the pier.  They both said "Hey!" as they approached. 

"Great." Otto muttered sarcastically.  He went back to skateboarding, purposely ignoring them. 

Sam and Reggie returned their greeting.  Twister lowered his eyes and tightened his arm around Reggie's waist. He wanted to be sure they knew that she was his girl.

"You ready to learn how to surf?"  Reggie asked, jumping off the rail and out of Twister's grip.

"Sure!  We don't have any boards though.  We don't have much need for surfboards in Arizona."  Will said.

 Reggie laughed.  "I couldn't imagine living without the ocean.  Anyway, you can borrow ours." 

"What! NO way!" Otto stopped skating and acknowledged Alex and Will for the first time. 

"It's not like they're going to break it." Reggie snapped at him and glared.  

"That's my brand new board! Nobody is using it but me."  Otto said and shot a challenging gaze back at her.  "Especially not some damn shoobie" he muttered under his breath to Twister and Sammy.

"Fine.  Act like a lame-o, Otto.  They can use Twister and Sammy's board since I need mine to show them the moves. You don't mind do you?" Reggie asked. 

"No problem" Sammy said. "That is if you don't mind my big, clunky longboard."

Twister just shrugged and looked away.  He wasn't going to argue with her.

"Twister!" Otto frowned at him as if to ask 'what the hell are you doing?'

"Come on bro, it's not worth getting aggro over." Twister said.

Otto groaned.  "Let's just hurry up and get this over with."   
*******

At the beach, Otto ran into the water with his board, leaving the rest of them behind.  He obviously wanted to take the opportunity to show off. Alex and Will watched in amazement.  "Wow, you're brother's really good!" Alex said to Reggie.

"He likes to think he is. Come on, I'll show you how to really surf!" she said.  They picked up their boards and followed her into the water.  Since they had nothing to surf with, Twister and Sammy stayed on the beach.

Reggie was explaining the basics of surfing when Otto paddled over to them.  

"Hey! Awesome moves bro!" Alex said.  

Otto was annoyed that Alex was trying to sound like a local, but he let it slide.  "Of course they are.  I'm the best surfer in Ocean Shores.  I'm going pro as soon as I'm eighteen.  You should see all of my trophies."  No matter how much he didn't like a person, Otto never passed up an opportunity to brag about himself. 

"Can it, Rocketboy.  They don't want to hear about how great you are." Reggie said.

"Whatever."  Otto mumbled and went back to surfing.

"So after you paddle up to the lip of the wave, you have to get your balance and stand up.  It takes a lot of practice, don't give up if you can't do it the first few times."  Reggie continued the lesson.  "Want to give it a try?" 

"Could you show us first?" Alex asked.  He wanted to see how good this girl really was.

"Sure."  She paddled up on a huge wave.  She expertly maneuvered the board through the tube and topped it off with an aerial.  Breathless, she paddled back to them.  

"That was great Reggie!  You are so awesome.  You're beautiful and you kick-ass at surfing!" Alex said and reached for her hand.  

Reggie quickly pulled her hand out of his grip and looked toward the beach to see if Twister had noticed.  Luckily he appeared to be talking to Sammy and wasn't paying attention.

Too shocked to say anything else she just gave him a weak "thanks."

"So after we finish this lesson, do you want to go hang out somewhere?" Alex asked.

"I can't.  I'm probably going to the pier with Twister." She said, trying not to sound rude. 

"Is that dork your boyfriend?" Will asked. 

"He's not a dork!" She said defensively.  "And yes, he's my boyfriend."

"Sorry for my brother's manners, Reggie." Alex apologized. "Don't pay any attention to him."

"Yeah, sorry.  I didn't know..." Will said.

"It's okay, I know how it is to have a little brother." She glanced over at Otto, who was still showing off. 

"I just thought that maybe you could show us what the locals do for fun.  We're tired of hanging out with our parents.  We're leaving in two days and this is the most fun we've had the whole time!"  Alex said.

"Well…I guess we could all hang out tonight."

"Sweet!" Alex said excitedly.  

Back on the beach, Twister and Sam sat in the sand and watched the lesson.

"Man, this stinks."  Twister said. 

"Yeah, I'd much rather be in the water too.  It's way too hot today." Sam agreed.

"No, not _that_ Squid.  I mean it stinks that Reggie is hanging out with these two shoobies.  I think that Alex guy likes her."

"Really?  I hadn't noticed." Sam said. 

"He didn't say anything, but he keeps looking at her funny. It's really bugging me."

"I wouldn't worry about it Twister.  After everything that happened, I'm sure that Reggie isn't going to leave you for some shoobie." 

"I guess you're right, Squid.  I just don't like that dork looking at her like that."  

"You're not jealous are you Twister?"

"Me?  Jealous?  No way!  I just don't like the dude, that's all."

"Okay."  Sam said, and then tried to change the subject.  "Look!  That guy is worse than I am!" 

"Yeah, what a lame-o!" Twister laughed. 

Over an hour later, they finally came out of the water. "That was pretty good guys. If you were here longer, you'd be pro's by the end of the week!" Reggie said.

They sat down beside Twister and Sammy.  Reggie gave Twister a quick kiss on the cheek.  Nobody noticed when Alex rolled his eyes.

Otto walked up and plopped down beside them.  "Ok, you got your lesson.  Why are you still hanging around?" he asked.

"Otto!" Reggie shouted.  

"What?"  He asked innocently.  He was either completely unaware that he was being rude, or just didn't care—probably the latter.   

"Actually, I asked Alex and Will to go to the pier with us." She said nervously.

"I'm outta here.  I'm going to go rip it up at Madtown.  You with me bro?" Otto asked Twister.

Twister's gaze shifted from Otto to Reggie.  He didn't want to leave her with Alex and Will.  He trusted her, but he definitely didn't trust Alex.  On the other hand, he didn't want to piss off Otto either.  He also didn't feel like spending the remainder of the evening with these two kooks.  

"So are you with me, or what?" Otto repeated impatiently. 

"Um…sure.  Let's do it!" Twister said. He gave Reggie a look that had 'I'm sorry' written all over it.  He was relieved that she wasn't too upset.  

"I guess I'll catch up with you later then." She said.

"You coming Squid?" Otto asked Sam.  

"No, I think I'll go to the pier.  I'm really in the mood for a funnel cake!" Sam said.

"Alright, later!" Otto said and started walking off. Twister followed him, but turned around to glance at Reggie one last time.  He hoped that he wasn't making a mistake. 


	4. Ch 4: Trouble In Paradise

Thanx for the reviews everyone.  I'm glad you like it so far.  This chap. is kinda long, but interesting…. enjoy!! Ch. 4:  Trouble in Paradise 

Otto and Twister skateboarded toward Madtown in silence.  Otto could tell that something was bugging Twister, but he figured that it probably concerned Reggie and didn't really want to ask. After awhile, he couldn't stand it anymore.  "What's with you bro?"

"What do you mean?" Twister asked.

"Duh!  Something is definitely eating you.  You're never this quiet." Otto said.

"Yeah.  It's just that I have this feeling." 

"What kind of feeling?" Otto asked.

"I mean, do you think we should have left Reggie alone with those guys?"

"Is that what this is?  You're jealous!"  Otto stopped his board in the middle of the sidewalk, nearly causing Twister to crash into him.

"No.  I'm not jealous."  Twister said defensively.  "I just don't like the way that dude keeps checking her out.  Don't tell me you didn't notice!"

"Yeah, I noticed." Otto shrugged.

"So why did we leave her with them?" Twister asked.

"Reggie can take care of herself.  Besides, Squid's with her." Otto said.

"I know, but I still have a bad feeling about it." 

"So why don't you go running back to your little girlfriend and I'll go to Madtown BY MYSELF!" Otto raised his voice.  He was starting to get annoyed with this discussion.

"DID I SAY I wanted to go back?" Twister asked, raising is voice also.  

"NO, but that's what you want.  SO GO!" Otto turned around angrily and started to skate off. 

"Damn Otto!  Can't we just have a simple conversation without you starting a beef?" 

"Not when it concerns YOU dating my SISTER, _Bro._"  He stopped skating again and turned to face Twister as if challenging him.  

"I thought we were cool about that." Twister muttered, wondering exactly when this discussion had started to go bad.

"Yeah, well I guess you thought wrong."  Otto said and turned to skate off again. 

Twister sighed.  He didn't want to do this.  It hadn't even been a week since the last time he and Otto had been fighting.  He knew that one wrong word would send Otto over the edge and they'd be at each other's throats again.  He wanted desperately to stand up to him and ask him what the hell his problem is, but he couldn't stand the thought of another huge argument..  He got on his board skated hard until he caught up with Otto.  

"What are you doing?" Otto asked when he saw twister skating up beside him.

"Going to Madtown with you."  Twister said.

"You mean you're not going to bail and go find Reggie?" 

"Nah, I'm going to Madtown with my Bro." Twister repeated.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Otto finally spoke.  "Sorry I went aggro on you, man."  

"No problem, forget about it dude."  Twister said.

"You and Reggie being a couple is still a little strange for me, you know?"  Otto said with a bit of uneasiness.  "I really don't mind, it's just taking me awhile to get used to it.  To tell you the truth, I'm glad she's dating you and not some loser.  I know you'll treat her right."

Twister was so surprised by Otto pouring his heart out that he didn't really know how to respond. After a few seconds he finally muttered "Thanks bro." 

"Look, if you want, I'll go with you to find them later."

"Really?"  Twister was amazed—Otto was full of surprises today. 

"Yeah, but first, I'm ready to catch some mad air!"  

"I'm with you!" Twister shouted excitedly as they arrived at Madtown.

********

Later that evening, Reggie was exhausted.  They had ridden every single ride on the pier—some twice.  She was glad that Alex and Will had a good time, but she was ready for them to head back to their hotel so she could go find Twister.  She missed him.

 "Do you think that your parents are worried about you?" She asked, hoping that they'd take the hint.  

"No, I told them we'd probably be late" Alex said.

"Oh.  Well, I think I'm going to head home.  I'm exhausted.  Maybe we'll see you around again before you leave."  Reggie said.

"Don't go!  It's only 8:00.  It's not even dark yet!" Alex protested.  

"Yeah, my mom isn't expecting me until 9:30.  Besides, I'm starving!" Sam said.

It suddenly dawned on Reggie that they had been so busy riding the rides that they forgot to eat dinner.  She realized that she was pretty hungry herself.  She decided that seeing Twister could wait long enough for them to grab a bite to eat. "Okay, lets go to the Shack." 

"I hope your brother isn't there." Will said.

"Don't worry about Otto.  He's not as tough as he wants everyone to think he is—unless it involves sports.  He's actually a pretty nice guy, he's just really into himself."  

"Yeah…I noticed." Alex said smugly. 

They arrived at the Shore Shack only to find that it was packed.  It was no surprise since it was the middle of summer.   Tourist liked to spend the day relaxing on the beach, but when evening came they were ready for excitement.  The Shore Shack was in the perfect location for a quick meal before heading to the amusement park on the pier. 

When their food was finally ready, which seemed to take forever, they took it outside and sat on the edge of the pier.  They chatted and watched the sun slowly sink down into the Pacific as they ate.

******

Twister could honestly saw that he hadn't felt this good in weeks.  Spending the evening at Madtown with Otto was just like old times.  It seemed like they'd been fighting so much lately, that they had forgotten what a great time they always had together.  

"That was an awesome run!"  Otto said, sitting on a bench to rest.  

"Yeah, it was sick bro!" Twister agreed and plopped down beside him.  "You ready to hit the shack?  I'm starving!"

"Yeah, me too."  Otto said.  "Then we'll go look for Reggie and Squid.  Maybe those kooks are gone by now."

"Yeah, I hope so.  Let's go!"  They skated off toward the pier.

*****

After they finished their dinner, Reggie stood up like she was getting ready to leave.  She didn't notice when Alex gave Will a sharp poke in the gut.  

"Um…where's the bathroom?"  Will asked.

"All the way down at the other end of the pier" Sam pointed out the direction.  

Will looked into the maze of rides, games and souvenir places.  "There's a lot of stuff down there, could you show me?" He asked. 

"Sure.  Be right back, Reggie."  Sam said as he and Will walked off.  

Suddenly Reggie was uneasy around Alex now that they were alone.  The silence was very uncomfortable so she racked her brain for something to talk about.  "So…are you ready to go back to Arizona?" 

"Not really.  It's so hot and boring there." He said, and then paused briefly.  "Besides, I'd rather stay here with you."

"Me?  You barely know me." She said shyly.

"I know, but I think you're the coolest girl I've ever met…not to mention the fact that you're totally hot!"

Reggie felt her check grow warm. She knew that they were bright red.  She looked down the pier, hoping that Sammy and Will would hurry up and come back.  They were nowhere in sight.  

"That's sweet Alex, but even if you stayed we could only be friends.  I love Twister."

"He just doesn't seem right for you, Reggie.  He seems really immature—kinda like your brother." He said. 

She was slightly offended at the comment.  "He's NOT immature.  I've known Twister forever.  He's a really sweet and sensitive guy."

"Is that why he bailed on you today?  Cause he's so sweet and sensitive?" he asked.  

"I don't mind if he wanted to go hang with Otto.  I'm glad they're spending time together.  Things have really been a mess lately, but that's a long story."  

"Well, I would never choose my buds over a girl like you.  Just give me a chance," he said and looked straight into her eyes.  "I'll show you that I'm sweet and sensitive too."  He put his arms around her, pulled her close and kissed her.

******

On their way into the Shack, Otto noticed a couple kissing further down the pier.  At first, he just ignored them, but then suddenly spun around and did a double take.

"What's wrong, dude?"  Twister asked.

"Nothing.  For a second I thought that girl was Reggie."  He said and pointed at the couple.  

Twister turned and squinted to see through all the bright lights.  "Yeah, she kinda looks like Reggie from the back.  That's not Reggie though, that girl is kissing some dude."

Twister shrugged it off and turned around to go in the Shack, but Otto was still focused on the couple.  Suddenly, they broke apart.  The girl looked upset as she stepped back.  Otto could finally see her face. "Wait a minute! That IS Reggie!  And she's with that damn shoobie!"

"Huh?"  Twister wasn't sure that he'd heard Otto right.  He turned around to look at the couple again and realized that there was nothing wrong with his hearing.  "WHAT THE FUCK!" He slammed down his skateboard and stormed toward Reggie and Alex.  


	5. Ch 5: The Pier

A/N:  Thanx to all for the reviews!  This will be the last update for a week cause the wonderful, action-packed, fun-filled family vacation is next week (yes, I'm being sarcastic).  In the meantime, here's chapter 5.  It's not going to be pretty.  Enjoy! Chapter 5:  The Pier 

Several people looked up from their meals in the Shore Shack and stared when they heard Twister's (rather loud) explicit language.  They were further startled by the loud crash of the skateboard hitting the ground as he hurried off.  As if waiting for an explanation, all eyes were on Otto, who seemed to be transfixed in a daze. His mind was racing at top speed, but he couldn't move.  He knew what was about to happen and none of it was going to be good.

"Is everything okay little cuz?" Tito called from the counter.  

Otto snapped out of it and picked up Twister's board, propping it by the wall will his own.  "Uh…Yeah Tito.  Everything's fine.  Twister just…um…forgot something."  Otto said and rushed out the door.   His stomach was doing back flips as he ran down the pier to catch up to Twister.  He could hear him yelling long before he actually got there.

"WHAT THE HELL are you doing Reggie?" Twister shouted.   

"Twister!  I…I…" The words wouldn't come to her.  Everything seemed to be happening at lightening speed.  Her heart was beating so hard and fast that she thought it was slam right through her chest.

"Don't bother explaining, I already saw everything!"

"I didn't…he…" She was cut off when Twister started yelling again.

"I SAW you Reggie.  Otto did too!"  He glanced at Otto standing beside him who was, for the first time in his life, keeping his mouth shut.  

"Is this your sweet and sensitive guy?" Alex asked sarcastically.  

"Shut up kook!" Twister shouted and lunged at Alex, knocking him to the ground.  Before Alex could react, Twister was pounding his fist mercilessly against his face.  Somehow, Alex managed to reach up and grab his wrist, resulting in a brief struggle.  Then, with shear determination, twister maneuvered his other hand around Alex's throat.  Alex started to gasp for air.

"STOP IT!" Reggie screamed, getting hysterical.  "He can't breath!"

Otto was mesmerized by the fight; his eyes were wide with shock.  When he heard Reggie screaming, something clicked in his brain causing him to run over and grab Twister's shirt in an effort to break them up.  "Come on Bro, it's not worth it!"  The attempt was hopeless; he would never be able to do this alone.  He looked up at the crowd that had formed around them and wondered why the hell someone didn't help him.  Then he noticed a familiar figure struggling to push past the onlookers.  "Squid!  A little help here?"

In a flash, Sam had Twister by the arm.  Together they managed to pull him off of Alex and constrain him.  He struggled uselessly to get out of their grip.

Will, who had come back with Sam, helped his brother get to his feet.   Alex coughed several times and gulped in air where Twister had been chocking him.  

"Are you Okay?" Reggie asked with a very concerned look on her face.

"I'm fine."   He wiped his bloody nose with his hand.  "Your boyfriend is psycho!" 

"Yeah, well maybe he has good reason to be!  This is all your fault!"  She was through being concerned, now she was pissed.  

"You know you liked it!" He said smugly.  

Fire raged in Reggie's eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing from this self-righteous bastard.  Through clenched teeth she said "You better get the hell out of here right now, or I'm going to finish where Twister left off!"

"Fine.  The hell with this, I'm outta here!" He stomped off into the crowd and his brother followed him.  

"You _better_ leave if you know what's good for you!" Twister shouted.  He didn't hear the conversation between Reggie and Alex because he was too busy yelling for Otto and Sam to let him go.  

"Calm down, Twister.  They're gone."  Sam said, finally feeling that it was safe to release his arm.   

"Like HELL!"  She kissed him!" Twister focused his attention back to Reggie.  "How could you do this to me?"

"Will you please SHUT-UP and LISTEN to me for a minute!" She shouted.

"Let me guess, it wasn't your fault—just like when you kissed Lars, right?" Twister said.

That comment struck Reggie the wrong way. Suddenly she wasn't really sorry for what happened and no longer felt the need to try and explain it.  "You know what, Twister?  I'm sick of you accusing me of shit.  I don't have to take this.  You've made it obvious that you don't trust me so maybe I should go find someone who does!"

"Maybe you should.  It's gonna be hard though since you act like such a slut!" Twister said too quickly.  When his words sank in he immediately wanted to take her in his arms and apologize, but it was too late to turn back.

His words cut through Reggie like a knife.  She felt like she was going to burst into tears, but she didn't want to give him that satisfaction.  "I'm through with you, Twister.  I don't need you!  Goodbye, JERK!" She turned and walked away. 

"GOOD! I don't need you either! Why don't you go kiss your NEW boyfriend!" He yelled as she left.  When she was gone he looked over at Otto and Sam who were watching in disbelief.  The three stared at each other awkwardly.

"Um…maybe I should go check on her." Sam finally broke the silence. 

"Yeah." Otto nodded.  He watched Sammy disappear into the crowd that was finally beginning to break up now that the scene was over.  

Without a word, Twister walked over to the railing of the pier and looked out over the dark ocean.  He couldn't believe what just happened.  In a matter of minutes, his world had been turned completely upside down. 

Twister was startled from his thoughts when he felt a hand rest lightly on his shoulder. "You okay, Bro?" Otto asked softly with a look of genuine concern.

"I'm fine." Twister lied.  "I guess you're happy now."  

Otto thought that he would be happy to see Twister and Reggie break up, but now he had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.  He realized that he didn't really want this after all.  Ironically, as much as he had protested against their relationship, he was upset now that it was over.  "Actually, I'm not happy.  You and I both know that it's not supposed to be like this."  

"What the hell are you talking about dude?"  Twister looked confused.  

"You and Reggie should be together.  You're made for each other."

"Are you whacked or something, man?  Did you see what just happened?"  Twister couldn't believe what he was hearing from Otto.  

"Yeah, but you're both mad right now.  Try talking to her tomorrow after she cools off a little." 

"I don't have anything to say to her.  I'm GLAD it's over.  No offense bro, but your sister is a cheating bitch.  I don't need someone like that." 

Normally, Otto would have been ready to tear someone's head off if they just called his sister a bitch, but after seeing her kiss Alex with his own eyes, he almost had to agree with Twister.  He let it go and quietly said "You don't really mean that dude."  

"The hell I don't" Twister said and started to walk off.

"Where're you going? "  Otto asked.

"HOME!" Twister yelled over his shoulder.

Seeing no point in hanging around by himself, Otto followed him.  The bright lights of the pier faded behind them as they walked together in silence.  

A/N:  Twister and Reggie seem to have a hard time, don't they?  If you're familiar with my other stories, you should have already known that this wasn't going to be all fluffy and sweet.  I don't do fluffy too well laughs evilly Anyway, Please review! I'll update when I get back from the torture…uh…I mean trip. 


	6. Ch 6: Deep Conversations

A/N:  I'm back from vacation.  After a week in the car with my parents and dork brother I'm surprised I didn't go crazy. It wasn't so bad I guess.  I could think of better things to do though.  Anyway, you probably noticed that I changed the title.  After thinking about it "I put your picture away" just didn't sound right.  Thanx for the reviews!  Ch. 6:  Deep Conversations 

When Twister arrived home from the pier he found Lars flopped on the couch watching TV.  He didn't feel like dealing with his brother.  They'd been getting along somewhat lately, but Lars still knew how to drive him crazy when he was in his 'I'm going to torment my little brother' mood. Twister hoped that tonight wasn't one of those times.  

"What's up dork?" Lars called from the couch when saw Twister come in.  "Why are you home so early?"

"Just leave me alone Lars."  Twister mumbled and headed towards the stairs.

"Awww…what's wrong?  Did you and Rocketdork get into another wittle fight," Lars asked jokingly, "or did your wittle girlfriend get mad at you because you're such a lame-o."  

"I SAID shut the hell up and leave me alone!" Twister yelled.  He stomped toward Lars with his hands balled into fists.  Startled, Lars quickly rose from the couch and raised his arms in defense. 

"MAURICE!   That is no way to talk to your brother!  You know that we don't use that kind of language in this house!" their mom called from the kitchen.  

When he heard his mother's voice, Twister froze just short of reaching Lars.  His hands relaxed at his sides. "Sorry mom" he called back to her, rolling his eyes.  He gave Lars a hateful look then walked away and climbed the stairs to his room.

Without turning on the lights or changing out of his clothes, Twister flopped onto his bed.  He closed his eyes, but he knew that it would be a long time before he'd be able to sleep.  An emotional roller coaster raced up and down in his mind.  One second he hated Reggie and never wanted to see her again, then the next he wanted to apologize for how he'd acted and hope that everything would be all right.  

A loud knock at the door jarred him from his thoughts.  He didn't respond, but the door creaked open anyway.  Twister opened his eyes to see Lars's frame silhouetted against the hall lights.  He walked into the room and switched on the light, causing Twister to squint from the brightness.

"What the hell was THAT about?" Lars asked as he straddled the chair and folded his arms on top of the backrest.  

"What?"  Twister asked, faking innocence.  He knew what Lars was referring to, but he didn't feel like talking about it.

"Damn, I was only joking.  You didn't have to totally freak about it." Lars said.

"Sorry Bro." Twister didn't offer to explain.  Instead he closed his eyes again, hoping that Lars would take the hint and go away.

"So what's going on?" Lars pressed.  He wasn't going to let it go easily.

"Nothing." Twister lied.  "I'm just not in the mood for joking around tonight."

"Don't lie to me dork!  I know something's bugging you—now spill it before I whomp it out of you!" Lars threatened, although he had no intentions of actually doing it. 

"Fine.  If I tell you will you leave me alone?" Twister knew that it was pointless to keep avoiding it.  Lars wasn't going to give up.

"Maybe." Lars said smugly.

"Okay.  Reggie and I broke up.  There.  Are you happy now?"

Lars's eyes got wide with disbelief.  "Whoa…back up a second man!  Did Rocketdork start his shit again?" 

"No, it's not Otto's fault this time." Twister simply said.  He really didn't want to go into detail.  

"Well?  Are you going to tell me what happened, or what?" Lars asked impatiently.

Twister sighed, wishing that Lars would just leave him alone.  "It's a long story, but Reggie was hanging out with these shoobies, then we saw one of them kissing her at the pier so I whomped him.  Then when I asked her what was going on she got all pissed and said that I was accusing her and broke up with me."  

"That's harsh." Lars said.  "I can't believe she did that." 

"Yeah.  Me either, but I don't care. I'm glad she left if that's the way she's going to be.  You can _have_ her bro." Twister said jokingly, knowing that Lars liked Reggie.  He didn't think that Lars would take it seriously.

"Really?  You mean you wouldn't be pissed if I asked her out?" Lars asked, his expression changing from concerned to a little excited.

"Whatever.  If you want a girl who's going to cheat on you, then go for it bro."  Twister could honestly care less at this point.  He was torn up over the thought of losing Reggie, but when he pictured her kissing Alex the pain was replaced with rage.

"You're sure that you'd be cool with it?"  Lars asked. 

"Yeah, sure." Twister said flatly even though he wasn't so sure.  

"Are you going to be okay bro?"  Lars asked after a brief silence.  A worried look crept across his face.  He kept thinking about how Twister had reacted when Otto caused him and Reggie to break up.  He didn't want to go through _that_ again.

"I'm fine.  Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid." Twister said as if he knew what Lars was thinking.

"Okay."  Lars got up to leave, then paused when he reached the doorway.  "Hey, sorry for what happened man.  Um…if you want to talk I'll be in my room."

"Thanks Lars." Twister said quietly, surprised to see Lars actually showing that he cared.

"Yeah…whatever, dork." He said and closed the door behind him.

*************

At the Rocket house, thing were not so quiet.  When Otto got home, he stormed up the stairs and barged in Reggie's room without even knocking.  "What the hell were you thinking?" He shouted.

She was sitting on her bed looking over a stack of papers for the Zine.  She needed to take her mind off of things.  "I didn't do anything and would you mind knocking next time?" she said calmly.

"Damnit Reggie!  I SAW you kiss that shoobie.  How could you do that to Twister?"

"He kissed me.  I didn't know he was going to do it.  That's what I was trying to tell you, but nobody will listen to ME!" She said, getting angry again.

"I don't know why you even wanted to hang with him in the first place.  You were just asking for trouble." Otto said.  

"It's called being friendly, Otto.  I guess you don't know what that is since you think that you're so above the rest of the world."

"That was harsh, Reg.  Besides, this isn't about me."

"That's a first!" she said.  "Anyway, you should be glad—you never wanted us to go out to begin with!"

"I was starting to get used to it." Otto said defensively.   "You should have seen the look on Twister's face after you left.  I think you should go talk to him."  He couldn't believe the words coming from his own mouth.  After he had made such a huge issue over them going out, now he was trying to get them back together.  It had defiantly been a strange day.  

"I have nothing to say to him, Otto.  I'm tired of him accusing me of stuff that I didn't do."

"He was totally bent.  He didn't really mean it." He said. "You would have done the same thing."  

"I would have at least let him explain what happened first!" she said irritably. 

"Explain it now then." He said, trying to convince her to go talk to Twister.

"I'm NOT going over there.  Now CAN IT and leave me alone." She shouted.  

Otto groaned.  There was no use in talking to her when she was like this.  Stubbornness ran in their family.  Frustrated, he stared at her and tried to think of something that might change her mind.  Finally, he gave up and left her room, slamming the door behind him.  

**********

The next morning, Reggie was sitting on the front porch, putting on her blades.  She had no idea where she was going, but she needed to get out of the house.  She had tried to concentrate on the Zine, but her thoughts kept drifting to last night at the pier.  She was still fired-up over Twister accusing her without even letting her explain what happened, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was making a mistake.

To make things worse, Otto had been giving her the cold shoulder all morning.  She didn't know what _his_ problem was.  She thought that this was what he wanted.  Now, he was acting totally whacked over it.  She shrugged it off and decided that she'd never be able to figure out how his mind works.

She was about to leave when she saw Lars coming out of his house.  She started to ignore him, but he was waving his hand around like he wanted her to wait.  He caught up with her at the end of the driveway.

"Hey!  Where're you going?" he asked.

"I don't know…somewhere." She said and shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that.  Would you like some company to_ somewhere_?"  

"Look Lars, if you're here to convince me that I need to go apologize to Twister, then you're wasting your time.  I had to listen to enough of that from Otto last night."

"Otto?  He wants you and Twister to get back together?   You can't be serious!" He said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I think he's whacked or something.  I couldn't believe it either.  The space aliens should be bringing the real Otto back anytime now."  

Lars laughed.  "Well, I'm not going to tell you to apologize.  I just want to hang out.  I thought that maybe you needed someone to talk to besides your dork brother." 

She eyed him suspiciously, wondering what he was up to.  She had a pretty good idea.  She knew that Lars liked her and he was totally bent when he found out that Twister was dating her.  In fact, he had gone so far as to kiss her in an effort to break them up.  At the time, all she could think about was Twister and wanted nothing to do with Lars.  When they were younger, he had made life hell for all of them.  He could still be an ass when he wanted to, but now that he was seventeen and more mature, he really wasn't so bad of a guy.  

She figured that if Twister wanted to be a lame-o, then she might as well accept his invitation.  "Sure.  Where do you want to go?" She asked. 

"I don't care.  I guess we could just go hang at the pier or go to Madtown."  He said.

The thought of going back to the pier made her queasy.  It was too soon for her to face it again after what happened there last night. She wasn't really in the mood to rip it up at Madtown either.  "Um…how about we just go sit on the beach and talk."  

"That's cool.  Let me go get my blades, it'll just take a second."  He turned and ran back to his house.  

Reggie sat on the curb and waited.  She wondered what she was getting herself into.

*******

In his room, Lars was throwing dirty clothes around trying to locate his blades.  Cursing himself for not being more organized, he hoped that Reggie wouldn't get tired of waiting and leave.   He finally found them under a t-shirt by his bed.  When he turned around to bolt out the door, he was looking Twister straight in the eye.  

"DAMN!  You scared me, dork.  I didn't even know you were standing there!" Lars said, startled.  

"Where're you going?" Twister asked. He already knew that he was going off with Reggie because he had been watching them talk through his bedroom window.  He just wanted to see what Lars was going to say. 

Feeling uncomfortable and a little guilty, Lars said. "I…uh…I'm just going to the beach…um…with Reggie."  He paused and waited for a response.  Twister just stood there with a blank look in his eyes.  Lars was surprised when he didn't totally freak.  "You cool with that?"

"I said I was, didn't I?"  Twister said without emotion.

"Yeah, but…well, never mind.  Later bro." Lars said. 

"Yeah, Later."  Twister turned to go back to his room. "Much later," he mumbled when he was sure that Lars couldn't hear him.  

He knew that he couldn't be mad because he'd told Lars that he would be okay with it.  Still, he couldn't believe that everything was happening so fast.  He looked out his window again to see Lars sitting on the curb beside Reggie, putting on his blades.  They both were smiling.  He flopped back into his bed and stared up at the ceiling.  A single tear slipped down his face.

A/N:  Don't forget to Review!


	7. Ch 7: Nothing to Lose

A/N:  Here's Ch. 7.  I hope you like. R&R!

Chapter 7:  Nothing to Lose

Twister awoke several hours later from the dull pain of someone poking him in the shoulder.  He opened his eyes and saw Otto standing over him.  After Lars left with Reggie, he couldn't bring himself to get back out of bed and pretend that everything was normal.  Instead he lay there, feeling miserable, until he eventually dozed off. 

"Where the hell have you been?  I've been calling ALL DAY!" Otto shouted.  The expression on his face showed that he was more worried than mad. 

"I've been here.  I didn't hear the phone." Twister said, yawning.  "How did you get in?

"I've been pounding on the door for fifteen minutes!  It was open so I let myself in cause I knew you were home…" Otto paused briefly. "I just wanted to be sure everything was okay."  He added quietly.  

"Don't sweat it Ottoman, I'm fine.  It's not like I'm going to go jump off a cliff or something."  Twister said jokingly.

Otto frowned, "Not funny dude."  

"Sorry."  Twister mumbled.  He could tell that Otto was really worried about him and wasn't in the mood for joking.

As far as Otto could tell, Twister seemed to be okay, but he still couldn't get the image of him standing on the edge of Mondo Mountain out of his mind.  He just shrugged, deciding to drop the subject.  "C'mon, get your board.  We're going to Madtown." 

"Nah, go ahead bro.  I'm not in the mood."  Twister said.

"No way, I'm not going to let you sit around here and feel sorry for yourself.  Now get up!" Otto demanded.  

"Just drop it Otto!  I'm NOT going!  There's no way that I'm going to go down there so I can watch Reggie kissing all over Lars." Twister shouted, getting angry.  

"WHAT did you say?" Otto's eyes got huge when he realized what Twister was telling him.

"Yeah, you heard me.  They left together this morning." Twister said.

"I can't believe this! She told me she was going to go help dad at the shack."  

"Maybe she was, but Lars got to her first. He almost broke his neck trying to get out the door when he saw her in the driveway." As he spoke, Twister's attitude was casual, like he could care less, but the hurt in his eyes was clearly obvious. 

"I can't believe this!"  Otto repeated.  "Lars? She's hanging with _Lars?_ That's messed-up!" 

"Whatever.  They deserve each other." Twister said.

Otto picked up Twister's skateboard and helmet and shoved them at him. "Let's go." 

"I said I'm not going." Twister said.

"Yes you are, bro.  Do you want to sit here and let them see how down you are while they're out rippin' it up?" 

Twister shrugged, but took the helmet and board anyway.  Otto was right.  There was no need for him to mope around his house when Reggie had pretty much forgotten about him. He needed to get on with life, even though he wasn't so sure he could.  "Okay." He muttered and strapped on his helmet.  

Reluctantly, Twister followed Otto over pick up Sam.  The sky was overcast to match his mood, as if nature somehow knew how he felt.  He kept glancing back at his house wondering how pissed Otto would be if he changed his mind.  

"Hey guys." Sam said as he opened his door.  

"We're going to Madtown, wanna come?"  Otto asked.

"Yeah, I need to go get my board and tell my mom.  Just a sec." Sam rushed off. A few minutes later he returned ready to go.  "How're you doing, Twister?" he asked as they were leaving.

"Great, why wouldn't I be?  I mean, my girlfriend cheated on me then dumped me and now she's hanging out with my brother.  I'm fan-freakin'-tastic."

Sam glanced at Otto questioningly.  Otto just shook his head, silently telling him to drop it.  

"Man, I can't wait to catch some mad air." Otto said, trying to change the subject. 

"Yeah, me too.  Right after I beef a hundred times!"  Sam said.  

Twister didn't say anything.  Just to prevent an uncomfortable silence, Otto and Sam chatted about nothing all the way to Madtown.   

*******

As they sat on a sand dune and watched the waves breaking on the beach, Lars casually slipped his arm around Reggie's waist.  He took a deep breath and held it, waiting for her to either pull away or slap him.  After a few seconds, she did neither, so he finally relaxed and smiled at her.  

Reggie was surprised that she didn't feel uncomfortable with Lars.  It was probably because she'd known him for as long as she'd known Twister.   This was the first time that they'd ever actually hung out together though.  Normally Lars would be with his loser buddies, trying to think of ways to make life miserable for Otto and Twister.  At least that's the image she'd always had of him, but looking back now she realized that she'd never really taken time to get to know him.  After talking to him for over an hour, he seemed like a totally different person than the Lars that she thought she knew.  

"So why exactly _were_ you kissing a shoobie?"  He asked, bringing up the subject for the first time.  

"He was a total jerk.  He did it before I knew what was happening—even after I told him that I wasn't interested.  Then he acted like he'd done me a freakin' favor.  What a lame-o"  

"Sounds like it."

"But what really pisses me off is that Twister didn't trust me and wouldn't even let me talk."

Lars nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, that's messed up."

"I'm glad _someone_ agrees with me.  Everyone else thinks I'm a bitch." She said.

"You're not a bitch Reggie.  I don't blame you for what you did.  Twister was wrong for jumping to conclusions without letting you tell your side."

"Yeah."  She whispered even as she second-guessed herself.  She closed her eyes and wondered if perhaps she _was_ wrong for what she did.  She had no doubt until now that Twister deserved exactly what he got, but after explaining everything to Lars, she realized that he defiantly had good reason to be mad.  Even if the kiss had never happened, she still ignored him practically all day yesterday to hang with Alex and Will.  She knew that she'd done nothing wrong, but it was easy to see why she looked guilty to everyone else.  A dull ache crept its way into the pit of her stomach.  It was finally starting sink in that maybe she really did need him.  

Lars moved his hand from around her waist and nudged her gently in the arm.  "You still with me here?" he asked.

She opened her eyes to see him staring at her.  She wondered how long she was zoned out.  "Yeah, still here."  She said with a weak smile. 

"You looked like you were a million miles away."

"Sorry.  I'm just kinda tired." She lied. 

"Oh.  You want to go home?" he asked. 

"No, I'm fine. Really."  She sputtered.  A few minutes of silence passed before she spoke again. "So how is he?"

"Who?  Twister?  He's fine."  Lars said without further explanation.

"He wasn't upset?" she pressed.

"Not really.  He was more pissed than anything.  He said that he couldn't believe you did that to him, he doesn't need you, he's glad it's over blah, blah, blah.  You know, that kind of stuff.  He doesn't seem to be taking it too hard though.  He didn't even freak when I told him that we were going to the beach."

"He knows that we're together?"  Reggie's eyes widened with shock.

"Yeah, he even said he's cool with it."

"Oh."  She said quietly, clearly hurt that Twister wasn't more upset about the break-up.  Not only did it seem like he already over her, but he didn't even care if his own brother dated her.  

"Now quit worrying about him.  He's not worth it.  Besides, I never thought you were right for each other anyway." Lars hinted.

"What do you mean?"

"Just like I told you before, you should be with someone older and more mature." He put his arm around her again.  

"Maybe you're right," she said half-heartedly.  She moved a little closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.  After hearing that Twister was apparently fine with their relationship being over, what little hope she had of working things out with him had vanished.  She felt that she had nothing more to lose. 

******

At Madtown, Twister slouched on a bench and watched Sam and Otto in the bowl.  He briefly wished that he had his video camera because Otto was pulling off some stellar moves.  He was glad he didn't though because couldn't bring himself to do anything more than sit there.  

Otto skated up on the edge of the bowl and called out to him.  "You dropping in, or what?"  

"Yeah, I'm coming.  Give me a few more minutes."  

"You've already been sitting there for like thirty minutes.  What's with you?"  Otto asked, knowing quite well what was wrong with Twister.  He just wanted to help him get his mind off of things.   

"I TOLD YOU I don't feel like doing this.  Now leave me the hell alone!"  Twister shouted angrily.  He was aware that Otto was only trying to help him, but the last thing on his mind right now was skateboarding.

"Okay, Okay.  Chill dude. I'll leave you alone." Otto said then dropped back into the bowl.  

Twister looked around and noticed a group of teens standing next to the half-pipe that he'd never seen at Madtown before.  Usually it was the same crowd that hung out there all the time so new faces were pretty easy to spot.  

It was three of them, two guys and a girl, and they all appeared to be about his age.  The guys had the typical skater look with baggie jeans and t-shirts.  The taller guy had short brown hair that was dyed blond at the tips.  The other one also had short brown hair and sported a silver hoop earring.

What really caught Twister's attention thought was the girl with long, auburn hair.  She was slim with a tight midriff tank top and low-rise jeans that exposed her belly button ring. 

All of a sudden she looked up from her conversation with the guys and briefly locked eyes with him.  He felt foolish when he realized that he'd been staring.  To his surprise, she didn't turn and go back to ignoring him, but raised her hand and waved.  He managed a weak smile and waved back at her, then lowered his eyes self-consciously.  When he looked up again, she was walking strait toward him.

"Hi." She said as she approached.  "I'm Autumn."

"Like the season?" He asked, then instantly felt like an idiot.  

She laughed.  "Yes, like the season.  What's your name?" 

"Twister." 

"Like the storm." She said playfully.

He immediately liked her sense of humor.  "Well actually it's Maurice, but nobody calls me that but my parents.  Nobody that wants to live, that is."

"Well I better remember not to call you that!" she giggled.

"Did you just move here, or are you on vacation?" he asked.

"Neither.  We're from the next town over, Sunset Beach.  We come here to hang out sometimes cause we don't have a skate park.  I've seen you here before."

"You have?  I've never seen you." 

"You're usually busy skating with your buds.  I've never had a chance to say hi before.  Your friend is Otto Rocket, right?"  She pointed at Otto who was still skating in the bowl. 

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I've heard a lot about him.  He's supposedly the best skater in Ocean Shores."

"He is.  He's the best surfer too." 

"Well, from what I've seen, you're not so bad yourself." She flirted.

"Thanks" he grinned.

"Why don't you come join us for a run on the half-pipe? David and Chris won't mind." She said.

"Who's David and Chris?"  He wondered what her relationship was with the two guys.

"David's my brother." She pointed to the guy with the blond-tips.  "And Chris is our friend." 

"Oh.  Thanks, but no thanks.  Nothing against you, or anything, I'm just not in the mood today." 

"Okay."  She looked disappointed.  "If you change your mind, we'll be at the half-pipe."

"Okay, later." 

"I hope to see you again soon." She said as she got up to leave.  

Twister watched as she walked away, feeling more miserable than ever.  Part of him wanted to accept her offer, but he just couldn't get his mind off Reggie.  He still felt a flicker of hope that none of this was really happening. Maybe she'd walk up any minute and everything would be normal again.  He was interrupted from his thoughts when Otto skated up and sat down beside him.

"Who was the babe?"  He asked excitedly.

"Autumn.  She's from Sunset Beach."  

"What did she say to you?"

"She asked me to hang with her." 

"Well, what did you say?" Otto asked impatiently. 

"I told her no."

"WHAT!  Are you crazy? She's totally hot!"  Otto gushed. 

"I know." 

"So what's the problem?"  
"I can't stop thinking about Reggie." Twister muttered, knowing what Otto's reaction would be. 

"Are you WHACKED? She's off with Lars, REMEMBER? Forget her, bro! That girl totally digs you."  

Twister knew that Otto had a point.  Reggie had already forgotten about him so there was really no point in sitting around feeling depressed.   "Maybe you're right, Ottoman.' He said quietly.

"Of course I'm right! Stop acting like a lame-o and go tell her you changed your mind!" Otto insisted

Twister got up and grabbed his helmet and board, then walked towards the half-pipe.  He felt that he didn't have anything to lose.


	8. Ch 8: Sunset Beach

A/N:  Thx to all for the reviews!  This chap is kinda short, but enjoy.  Please Review! Chapter 8:  Sunset Beach 

(Kid Rock)

Livin' my life in a slow hell 

_Different girl every night at the hotel_

_I ain't seen the sunshine in three damn days_

_Been fuelin' up on cocaine and whisky _

_Wish I had a good girl to miss me_

_Lord I wonder if I'll ever change my ways_

_I put your picture away_

_Sat down and cried today_

_I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her_

_I put your picture away_

_Sat down and cried today_

_I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her_

Twister arrived home from Madtown to an empty house later that evening.  His parents were out running errands and Lars hadn't come home yet.  He plopped down on the couch and thought about the day.  He'd had a good time skating with Autumn, David and Chris.  They were really impressed with his moves.  He hung out with them until they said that they had to go.  Upon leaving, Autumn gave him her number and asked if he wanted to get together tomorrow.  He accepted her offer.

Otto and Sam left Madtown hours before him to go surf and they weren't back yet.  He wished that he had someone to talk to because now that he was all alone again, thoughts of Reggie started to creep back into his mind.  He liked Autumn a lot. She was pretty and seemed sweet, but he knew that she could never be a replacement for the bond that he and Reggie had shared since childhood.

Sighing, he glanced out the large front window and noticed two figures blading up the street.  The forms were fuzzy, but he could still recognize them as Reggie and Lars.  They were holding hands. He got up from the couch and watched as Lars escorted her to her front door where they paused to talk for a few minutes.  Before Lars turned to leave, he kissed her.  

Twister's stomach churned in revulsion.  He turned away cursing and angrily kicked over a chair. He looked out the window again and saw Lars heading toward their house.  To avoid questions from his parents, he quickly propped the chair back up then hurried up the stairs to his room, slamming the door behind him.  He didn't want to see his brother's face right now.  

He sat on his bed and put his head in his hands.  It was beginning to pound from an oncoming headache.  Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the picture of the four of them at the beach in front of their surfboards.  It had been there all along; usually he never even took the time to glance at it.  As if seeing it for the first time, he picked it up and studied it.  They all looked so happy.  He wondered why things couldn't be like that again.  Fat drops of liquid splattered on the glass frame as the tears fell from his eyes.  He missed her so much.  If only she missed him, maybe everything would work out.  It seemed like that thought was hopeless though because it appeared that she and Lars were hitting it off just fine.    
He opened his nightstand drawer and carefully placed the picture in it, face down.  He couldn't bring himself to look at her anymore.  It was time to get on with his life.  

He fumbled in his pocked for the piece of paper that Autumn had written her number on.  He pulled it out and stared at it, trying to build up his nerve.  Finally, he took a deep breath and picked up the phone.  She answered on the second ring.

"Hello."

"Hi…um…is Autumn home?"  Twister asked nervously. He asked the question even though he recognized her voice because he didn't know what else to say.

"This is Autumn." She said.

"Oh, Hi, This is Twister." 

"Hey Twister.  I didn't expect to hear from you so soon.  What's up?"

"I…uh…I know we aren't supposed to hang out until tomorrow, but everyone bailed on me.  I can't stand sitting her by myself so I was wondering if you want to do something tonight." He sputtered quickly.

"Sure." She replied. 

"It's not but a few miles.  I can blade there in about fifteen minutes.  Where do you want to meet?" He asked.

"Just meet us down on the beach at 3rd street.  There's an abandoned fishing pier there.  That's where we usually hang out."

"Okay, I'll see you there in half an hour." 

"Great! I can't wait." She said.

He hung up the phone with mixed emotions.  Part of him was excited about seeing Autumn again, but he also felt that doing this made it final that it was really over between he and Reggie.  

Reluctantly, Twister drug himself out of his room to go downstairs where he knew that he would have to face Lars.  He found him in the kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator for something to eat.  

Lars turned around when he heard Twister approach. "What's up bro? I didn't know you were here."

"I was in my room.  I'm getting ready to leave though." 

"Where you heading?"  Lars asked casually, trying to act like everything was normal between them.

Twister's eyes darkened with anger.  He didn't know how Lars could stand there and act like everything was okay after being off with Reggie all day.  He had to know that Twister still cared about her.  Twister wanted nothing more than to whomp him until he begged for mercy, but he tried to stay cool.  "Just off with some friends."

"What other friend do you have besides Rocketdork and Squid", Lars asked.

"I met some people at Madtown today.  This girl Autumn, her brother and his friend."

"Oh."  Lars was surprised.  "I'm glad you're not letting this thing with Reggie get you down."

That was it—Twister couldn't take it anymore.  "Like you care Lars!  You totally made it so I didn't even have a chance!"  He yelled.

"What the hell are you talking about man?"  Lars looked confused.

"You know what I'm talking about!  I saw you kiss her!."  

"SO?  You said you didn't care.  You were cool with it this morning." 

"I was still bent.  You should have _known_ that!  You didn't have to ask her out t he very next day after we broke up!"

"Look Dork, I asked you and you said it was cool.  Don't get aggro on me with this bullshit just because you feel bad now" Lars said angrily.

"But…" Twister started, but Lars cut him off.

"But nothing dork!  You said it and it's too damn late to take it back.  Now get out of my face before I whomp you!"

Twister glared at him hatefully then stomped out the door.  Deep down, he knew that Lars was right and it really wasn't his fault, but he felt that Lars was wrong for moving so fast.  Sighing, he put on his blades and headed toward Sunset Beach.  

*****

Sunset Beach was a town a lot like Ocean Shores, only not as crowded.  It didn't have all the tourist attractions that brought shoobies from miles around to Ocean Shores.  When Twister arrived at the 3rd Street beach, it was nearly deserted.  On a typical mid-summer evening in Ocean Shores, the beach would still be packed with people swimming, walking or just hanging out.

He looked around and saw three people sitting on the edge of the small, broken-down pier.  He recognized them as Autumn, David and Chris.  She waved at him and motioned for him to come over.

They exchanged greetings as he approached.  He immediately noticed that the bottles in their hands were not sodas.  

"We were just talking about what a blast we had today."  Autumn said.

"Yeah, you have some killer moves, bro.  Did Rocket teach them to you?"  David asked.

"Some of them.  Actually we teach each other."  Twister said, slightly annoyed.  He hated how everyone always thought that the only reason he was good was directly related to Otto being his friend.

"Sweet."  David said.

"Well don't just stand there—sit down, relax, have a beer."  Autumn patted the ground beside her in a gesture for him to sit there. 

"How'd you get that?"  Twister asked nervously as he sat and took off his blades.

"My brother gets it for us.  He's twenty-two."  Chris said.

"So are you up for one, or what bro?"  David asked.  He took a cold bottle from the cooler beside him and offered it to Twister.  


	9. Ch 9: Clouded Thoughts

A/N:  Here's chap 9!!  I can't believe school starts next week.  That SUX! I hope I finish this soon or else I'll get busy and forget.  It should be finished in two more chappies (unless I have another crazy idea and go off on a tangent or something).  Anyway, please R&R.  Oh, I almost forgot, just a rating reminder:  This fic is PG-13.  If you're under 13 turn back now! :::grins evilly:::

Chapter 9:  Clouded Thoughts

Twister stared at the bottle in front of his face as the thoughts raced through his mind.  He'd never even had the urge to drink alcohol before.  It wasn't because of his parents giving him "stay away from drugs and alcohol" speech, or the boring school assemblies that tried to enforce the same thing.  He'd just never had a desire to.  Until recently, he was high on life and didn't need things like that to feel good.  Sometime during the past twenty-four hours his life had dramatically changed though. Now, he could easily see himself doing a lot of things that he wouldn't normally do.  __

"Sure, bro." He took the bottle from David. 

After fumbling with the cap, he finally twisted it off and took a sip.  The taste wasn't really what he expected.  It was harsh and somewhat sour.  He wrinkled his nose and forced himself to swallow.  When he looked up he saw Autumn, David and Chris staring at him.  

"So, what do you think?"  Autumn asked.

"Good." He lied and took another sip.  He was surprised that the second taste wasn't as bad as the first.  

"First beer, huh?" Chris asked.  "Don't worry.  It's weird at to begin with, but it grows on you after a while."

"Do you do this a lot?"  Twister took a gulp this time.  He was starting to feel relaxed and a little light-headed.  

"It's the only thing exciting to do around here.  We don't have all the killer hangouts like you guys in Ocean Shores."  Autumn said. 

"Yeah.  It's pretty dead here." Twister agreed.  He looked around and realized that they were the only people on the beach now that the sun was starting to set.   After a few more gulps, he was surprised to see that his bottle was already empty.  "Got any more?" he asked. 

"Sure thing bro." David said and tossed him another one from the cooler. 

Twister suddenly realized that he wasn't even thinking about Reggie.  He no longer had the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that had been gnawing at him for most of the day.  Her face appeared in his mind briefly, but he just shrugged it off.  Right now he didn't care about her, Lars, or anything else.  The beer had given him a sense of confidence so he causally slipped his arm around Autumn's waist.    

********

Lars rang the doorbell at the Rocket's house.  He was bored and wanted to see what Reggie was up to.  He really just wanted to see her face again.  He couldn't believe that things were finally starting to go his way. He felt a little guilty because he knew that Twister still cared about her, but then again, Twister was never concerned about his feelings.  

Otto answered the door and scowled at him.  "What do you want, Lars?"

"Out of my way Rocketdork, I'm here to see Reggie."

"Not a chance" Otto said smugly.  

"Is she home, or what?" Lars asked impatiently.

"Yeah, she's home."

"So why can't I see her?"  Lars was becoming very annoyed.  He really hated to deal with Otto.

"Because I don't want your loser ass anywhere near her."  Otto said calmly. 

"What did you just say to me shrimp?" 

"You heard me!  I know you're only interested in one thing and I'm not about to stand by and watch while you try to take advantage of her." Otto stared challengingly up at Lars, who stood a good five inches taller than him.  

"Man, you are more whacked than Twister!"  Lars laughed.  He couldn't believe that Otto was actually trying to start a beef with him when they both knew that Lars could easily pound him into the ground.  

"Listen to me," Otto said through clenched teeth, "Stay away from her."  

Lars's eyes flashed with anger.  He didn't take crap off of anybody, especially not a self-centered brat like Otto Rocket.  He grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him clear off the ground so that they were eye to eye.  "No, you listed to _me_ dork.  I've been waiting for this for a long time and you're not going to screw it up.  Is that clear?"  

"Let go of me." Otto snarled and kicked him hard in the knee.

"Son of a bitch" Lars grunted and released the shirt causing Otto to fall hard on the floor. 

Before he was able to pick himself up, Lars grabbed his arm and twisted it painfully behind his back.  Otto groaned in agony.  He clenched his eyes shut and waited to hear the sound of snapping bone that would surely come at any second.

"I don't think you heard me the first time Rocketdork…" 

"What's going on?"  Reggie's voice interrupted.  The both looked up to see her frowning as she came down the stairs.  

Lars released Otto's arm and stood up.   'Your lame-o brother was just trying to start some shit, but everything's okay now, right Rocketdork?"  He looked down at Otto who was still on the floor rubbing his sore arm.  Otto glared at him hatefully.  

"What did you say to him Otto?"  Reggie demanded.

"What's your deal Reggie?  Why are you hanging with this loser? " Otto asked, finally getting to his feet.  

"He's not a loser and it's none of your business!" she said angrily.

"I'm making it my business.  I can't believe you! It's Lars!  What are you thinking?" 

I'm so damn sick of you always telling me what to do.  I can think for myself Otto!"  She shouted.

"I guess you can, Reg.  Just like you did yesterday when you decided to bail on Twister and hang with the shoobies.  All that thinking is what started this shit!"

Reggie's eyes darkened with anger.  Otto's words had hit a nerve.   "Get out of my face and STAY OUT MY LIFE!" she screamed.  She grabbed Lars's hand and headed toward the door.

"Fine.  Do what you want Reggie.  I'm done worrying about you.  I still think your making a huge mistake though!"  

"I DON"T CARE what you think Otto!  She slammed the door behind her.  Otto watched through the window until she and Lars disappeared out of sight down the street.  

*****

Just as Twister was finishing off his third beer, Autumn announced that they needed to be heading home.  When he stood up, the ground immediately started spinning and he stumbled.

Autumn grabbed his arm to steady him.  "Are you okay?"  She looked concerned.  

"I'm fine, just lost my balance. "

She took his hand and led him back to the sidewalk. Chris and David kept walking, but she suddenly stopped, causing Twister to clumsily bump into her.  "Go ahead, I'll catch up!" She said.

"Okay, Later bro." They called to Twister.

"Yeah, later." He replied. 

"I'm really glad you came tonight."  She said.  "It was great seeing you again." 

"Yeah, we have to do it again soon." He slurred.

"I'll call you tomorrow and we'll go surfing or something.  Be careful going home." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

A huge grin crept across his face.  His thoughts were hazy and one phrase kept repeating over and over in his mind. "Autumn?"  
"Hmmm?"

"I love you."  

She giggled.  "You barely know me Twister."

"I know, but I love you." He was totally convinced of what he was saying in his alcohol-clouded mind. 

"You're in no condition to discuss this now.  We'll talk about it tomorrow."

"Okay, we won't talk about it then."  He pulled her close and kissed her deeply.  His brain was too fuzzy to think so he just let himself become completely consumed by the kiss.  He ran his hands up and down her back passionately then dared to let them drop below her waist.  He only backed off when he felt her hand pressed against his chest, gently pushing him away.  Even though his mind was not all there at the moment, he knew that he'd stepped over the line.  

"S-sorry." He stammered.  He felt his cheeks growing hot.  

"Your drunk, Twister."  She said.  "It's a good thing to cause if you weren't I would have slapped you!  Go home and get some rest."  

"I'm really sorry."  He repeated, feeling like a complete jerk.  

"It's okay." She assured him.

"I'll see you tomorrow then."  It came out as more of a question than a statement.  He wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to see him again.

"Sure.  I'll call you.  Goodnight."

"Night."  He watched until she caught up with David and Chris who had nearly disappeared from sight.  

He put on his blades and headed home.  He barely got fifty feet before he fell, scraping his leg on the pavement.  "Damn."  He muttered without emotion as he watched the blood begin to trickle from the wound.  He stood up shakily and nearly lost his balance again. "The hell with this."  He took off his bladed and decided that it would be safer to walk home.

*****

An hour later, Twister finally reached his driveway.  He was startled when a voice spoke behind him.

"Where've you been, bro?  It's like 10:30."  He turned and saw Lars coming from the direction of the Rocket's house.  

"Sunset Beach."

"By yourself at night?  Mom and Dad would freak if they knew.  Hey, what happened to your leg?"  Lars pointed at the cut that was still oozing blood. 

"I fell."  Twister muttered.

Lars laughed.  "You fell on your blades?  Please tell me that you were trying to pull of some insane move.  You haven't fallen since you were like nine!"  

"No, I just fell.  Leave me alone." 

"What's wrong with you man?  You're acting whacked."  Lars asked.

"Nothing."

"Your eyes are all glazed over and freaky looking." Lars moved in to take a closer look. Suddenly he got a whiff of the alcohol on Twister's breath and eyes became wide with the realization of what was going on.  "Shit!  You've been drinking!" 

"I had a few beers." Twister confessed.

"Are you crazy man?  Are you totally whacked?  Mom and dad are going to have my ass!  Get in the house and don't make a sound!"  He grabbed Twister's arm and shoved him though the door.  Luckily it seemed that their parents had already gone to bed.  Lars didn't breath again until Twister was safely in his room with the door closed. 

"Oh man.  This will be all my fault if they find out."  Lars kept repeating.

"Why will it be your fault?"  Twister asked.

"I don't know.  I just will.  Somehow I'll get blamed for not watching out for you, or some lame shit like that."  He cleaned blood off Twister's leg with a damp washcloth.   "I can't believe you did this dork!" 

"Yeah, me either."  Twister muttered.  His eyes were starting to grow heavy.

"Listen" Lars said as he rummaged through Twister's drawer for his pajamas "DO NOT leave this room and take the chance of mom and dad seeing you.  They'll totally kill us both.  Got it?"  When no answer came, he turned around and saw that Twister was already asleep.  

A/N:  This chap was really weird to write cuz I have no idea what its like to be smashed. I've seen my older sister enough though so I have a pretty good idea.  It was also weird cuz I can't really picture Twister drinking, but I kinda wanted to make the story fit w/ the song.  Lemme know what you think.  


	10. Ch 10: Moving On

A/N: Hey, I'm alive and I'm actually updating this story!! It's only been what? _A year?_ I've thought about it several times and I felt really bad for leaving you guys hanging (no really—I did.) I just haven't been in the mood to write anything for awhile. I hate leaving things unfinished though so when the mood finally struck I pulled it back out. Thanks for all your reviews encouraging me to continue. If it wasn't for you guys, I probably never would've started working on it again. I haven't watched Rocket Power in _forever_ though so I hope they're still in character.

Chapter 10: Moving on

(Sheryl Crow)

_I called you last night at the hotel_

_Everyone knows, but they won't tell_

_But their half-hearted smiles tell me somethin' just ain't right_

_I've been waitin' on you for a long time_

_Fuelin' up on heartaches and cheap wine_

_I ain't heard from you in three damn nights_

_I put your picture away_

_I wonder where you've been_

_I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him_

_I put your picture away_

_I wonder where you've been_

_I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him_

Reggie awoke the following morning and found herself staring at the picture on her nightstand. It was the one showing the four of them at the beach last summer that she'd made copies of for Otto, Twister and Sam. She couldn't help but miss the way things used to be. They were all so carefree and happy in the photo. After studying Twister's image especially close, she finally began to realize that she missed him terribly. She felt so empty inside without him. Although she'd had a great time with Lars, she just didn't feel the same way about him as she did Twister. She _loved_ Twister. In the back of her mind, she knew that she'd made a huge mistake by breaking up with him.

Sighing, Reggie got out of bed and trudged downstairs to the kitchen where she found Otto sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. She wondered if he was going to continue ignoring her today—or worse. Being ignored was better than listening to him yell at her all day about how stupid she was for going off with Lars yesterday.

"What's up, Rocketboy?" She asked, trying to be as friendly to him as possible in hopes of avoiding another argument.

"Hey." Otto muttered, then shoved another spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

"What are you going to do today?" Reggie asked casually as she began to prepare her own breakfast.

Otto garbled something that sounded like "surfing" through a mouthful of cornflakes. He finally swallowed so she could understand him. "We're gonna hang with these people from Sunset Beach we met at Madtown yesterday—Autumn, David and Chris."

"That's cool."

"Yeah, they have some killer moves. Mine are better though, of course. That Autumn chick is totally hot too!" Otto said excitedly.

"Really? Do you like her?" She asked, becoming more interested in the conversation.

"Yeah, she's nice and all, but I think…um…never mind." Otto caught himself before he blurted out that she and Twister are into each other.

"But what?" Reggie pressed; obviously peeved he was trying to hide something from her.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." he said uneasily.

"It's about Twister, isn't it?" She demanded.

"I just forgot what I was going to say, that's all. It's not a big deal, Reg. Why are you acting so whacked?" Otto tried to play off his slip-up. He couldn't figure out why he didn't want Reggie to know about Twister and Autumn. Maybe he was still hoping that she would dump Lars and try to work things out with him. Even if he wasn't thrilled about them dating, he would rather her be with Twister than Lars any day.

"Whatever, Otto." Reggie spat angrily. Suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore so she dumped the oatmeal in the sink

"What's with you?" Otto asked as she walked out of the kitchen. She ignored him and headed back to her room.

She locked her door and shakily sat on her bed, wondering if her instincts were right about what Otto didn't want to tell her. She had a feeling that there was something going on between Twister and this Autumn girl. "How could I be so stupid!" she asked herself aloud. "Did I really think that he was going to sit around and wait for me, especially after I went out with Lars?" Feeling silly for talking to herself, Reggie took the picture off the nightstand and stared at it once more. Summoning up her courage, she picked up the phone and dialed Twisters number. She needed to make things right before it was too late.

* * *

Twister groaned and rolled over to face the person that had just brutally poked him in the ribs.

"Get up!" Lars shouted purposefully, knowing the reaction it would have on his brother.

Lars's voice shot through Twister's fiercely pounding head like a bullet. He felt like he was going to throw up. "Go away Lars…I'm sick." He mumbled and pulled the covers back over his head.

"It's called a hangover, dork. Doesn't feel so good now like it did last night, does it?" Lars taunted.

"Leave me alone!" Twister's tortured voice sounded muffled through the thick blanket. "And stop talking so loud!"

"Serves you right." Lars scoffed. "I oughtta whomp you good for doing that. Do you know how much trouble you would've been in if Mom and Dad found out…" He was interrupted by the phone ringing and put his torture session on hold to go answer it.

* * *

"Hey Lars." Reggie spoke into the phone, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. She was hoping that Twister would answer.

"Hey babe, what's up?"

"Not much. Um…Is Twister around?"

"Yeah, but I don't think he can talk right now."

"Why?"

"He hung out with his new friends in Sunset Beach last night and came home wasted."

"WHAT?" She couldn't believe her ears. "Twister was _drinking_?"

"Yeah, the dork got pretty messed-up. Now he's paying for it." Lars chuckled.

"That's harsh. I would've never thought Twister would do something like that…" She paused, speechless with shock, before finally changing the subject. "So what's the deal with him and that girl, anyway? Are they going out?"

"I don't know. I haven't really talked to him much."

"_Why_ won't anyone tell me what's going on!" Reggie suddenly raised her voice with obvious frustration, immediately regretting that she'd let her emotions leak out.

"Chill, Reg!" Lars said with surprise. "Who cares what he does. There's no need to get bent over it. Why do you wanna talk to him anyway?"

"Oh…Otto wanted me to ask him…uh…if he's still coming surfing with him today." She lied.

"Why can't Rocketdork call himself?"

"He's busy uh…waxing his board."

"I'll tell the dork to call him back if he ever gets out of bed. So, you wanna do something today?" Lars asked.

She really didn't want to hang with Lars today. She liked him, but she still cared too much for Twister to get into a new relationship right now. Not that it mattered. It was obvious that Twister was moving on. With that thought racing through her mind, she accepted his offer. "I guess we can hit Madtown."

"Awesome! I'll be over in about an hour."

"Great. See you then." Reggie said and hung up. She felt something in her hand and realized that she'd been clutching the framed picture the whole time she'd been on the phone. Walking to her closet, she gave it a final glance before shoving it on the top shelf amongst the boxes and other forgotten items. She needed to forget about Twister and move on.

* * *

Despite his suffering, Twister forced himself to get out of bed and drag to the kitchen. Lars was there, finishing off a humongous sandwich that made Twister feel nauseous again just looking at it. The older boy rose from the table, poured a cup of coffee from the pot and placed it in front of his brother.

"What's this?" Twister asked questioningly.

"What's it look like dork? It's coffee, now drink it!"

"You know I don't drink coffee Lars. It tastes like crap!"

"I know, but it'll make you feel better. Trust me. Here, eat these too." Lars said, tossing a box of saltine crackers in front of him.

Twister hesitated then finally took a small sip of the black brew, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He fumbled with opening the crackers. "How do _you_ know so much about how to cure a hangover, Lars?"

"Let's just say that I've been there, done that, a few times."

"No way! You've been out drinking before?" Twister asked.

"Yeah, I was your age. It was when I was hanging out with that rough crowd at school. I haven't done it in a couple of years though. At one time it was getting bad, like every night, so I made myself stop before I started to depend on it. It was a really lame thing to do. I felt like shit all the time." Lars said, surprised that he was actually telling all of this to Twister.

"I can't believe I never knew!"

"You were always asleep when I came home. Mom and dad caught me once. Remember that time I was grounded for like six months? That's why I said it would be my fault if they saw you last night. I'm sure they'd think I had something do with it."

"Oh."

"I don't want to see you end up in the same situation." Lars said quietly.

"Thanks Lars for uh…caring." Twister replied, starting to feel somewhat better.

"What? No way! I don't care _what_ you do dork!" Lars shouted, trying to cover up the fact that he'd just shown a hint of emotion toward his brother. "I'm just looking out for my _own_ ass!"

Twister responded with a slight smile. He knew that Lars couldn't stand to let anybody see his 'good' side so he didn't push the issue.

"Look, I'm going off. Rocketdork wants you to call him. Later much." Lars said, putting on his helmet. He grabbed his skateboard and slammed the door behind him.

Twister sat there, munching on crackers and choking down the repulsive black coffee. After awhile he started to feel a lot better and realized that he _might_ actually live, after all, so he picked up the phone and hit the speed dial for the Rocket house.

"Hey bro." Twister said when Otto answered.

"What's up?"

"Just calling you back."

"Huh? I didn't call you today." Otto sounded puzzled.

"I was in bed so Lars answered the phone and he said you wanted me to call you this morning."

"I was gonna see if we're still on for surfing with Autumn, Chris and David, but I haven't called you yet."

"Then who gave Lars the message?" Twister asked.

"Reggie, I guess. I didn't tell her to call though."

"Why would Reggie call just to tell me to call you?" Twister was confused.

The line was silent for a minute as Otto thought about it. "Dude! Don't you get it? She was probably calling to talk to you, then made up some lame-o excuse when Lars answered the phone! She was acting totally whacked this morning."

"Nah, not likely bro." Twister didn't want to let himself believe that it was possible, still he couldn't help but wonder. "Is she home now?"

"No, she went to Madtown with _Lars_." Otto spat the last word with obvious disgust.

"I figured." Twister said with disappointment. "Whatever's cool with me. I don't feel too hot today, but I guess I'm still up for surfing. See if Squid wants to come and I'll call Autumn and let them know where to meet us."

"Okay, later."

"Later, bro." Twister said and hung up. He didn't feel like doing anything and he had mixed feeling about hanging with Autumn again today. He liked her, but after talking to Lars—not to mention the current pounding in his head—he'd decided that he didn't really want to get mixed-up with a crowd like that. But since Reggie was obviously moving on with _her_ life, he was going to do the same. He picked up the phone again and dialed Autumn's number.


	11. Ch 11: Uncomfortable Confrontations

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad that you guys are still interested after I kept you waiting so long! This chap is pretty short. It was supposed to be the final chapter, but all of it together turned out kinda long so I broke it into two parts. I'll post the rest as soon as I get a chance to look over it again. R&R!

Chapter 11: Uncomfortable Confrontations

(Sheryl Crow)

_I saw you yesterday with an old friend_

(Kid Rock)

_It was the same ole same "how have you been?"_

(Both)

_Since you've been gone my world's been dark and gray_

(Kid Rock)

_You reminded me of brighter days_

(Sheryl Crow)

_I hoped you were comin' home to stay_

_I was headin' to church_

(Kid Rock)

_I was off to drink you away…_

The next couple weeks passed much the same. Twister, Otto and Sam would hang out at the beach, or Madtown—often with April, David and Chris—while Lars and Reggie went off somewhere to do their own thing. Twister would usually go with Autumn after Otto and Sam decided to call it a day. He was glad that Otto never asked what they did in the evenings because he definitely didn't want him to know. Otto would go ballistic if he knew what was really going on.

The gang would go back to their hangout and have a few beers until it was time for Twister to leave so he could get home at a reasonable time. He would immediately run up the stairs to his room before his parents could notice that something was wrong with him. He'd been lucky so far.

Every night, Lars barged into his room uninvited as he was getting ready for bed to check up on him. Upon smelling the alcohol on Twisters breath, he would only scowl and shake his head, sometimes mumbling something about a "big mistake" before finally leaving. Twister ignored him and wished that his brother would just leave him alone, despite his good intentions.

He was always careful not to drink as much as he did that first night—he didn't want to go through _that_ again. He really didn't enjoy drinking at all, but it helped him forget. After a few beers, the pain of losing Reggie slowly faded away—for a little while. Only then did he feel somewhat like his old self again.

Saturday morning, he was unhappily jarred awake by Lars shoving the phone in his face.

"It's your girlfriend." Lars stated flatly before leaving the room.

"Hi Autumn." Twister yawned into the phone.

"Hey Twist. I can't hang out today cause my parents are making us go with them to visit my aunt and uncle in San Diego. We'll be back this afternoon though so why don't we meet then?"

"Okay." Twister mumbled, still half asleep. "The usual spot?" He asked, referring to the pier in Sunset beach.

"We probably won't have eaten yet, so why don't you meet us at 'Hula Burger' for dinner?"

"Where?" Twister had never heard of this place before.

"It's in Sunset Beach. I'll give you the address, got a pen?"

"Yeah, hold on." Twister fumbled in the drawer of his nightstand for something to write with. Papers and other useless junk flew across the room as he started emptying the contents of the drawer, cursing under his breath. His fingers wrapped around something hard and he almost flung it across the room before realizing what it was. As he held it up to inspect it, his breath caught in his throat. There she was, so beautiful, smiling at him. He hadn't seen her face, picture or otherwise, in nearly two weeks. He was mesmerized by it, forgetting all about the pen that he was supposed to be looking for.

"Did you find it yet?" Autumn's impatient voice came through the phone that was still pressed to his ear, jolting him from his thoughts.

He finally saw the pen in the bottom of the drawer and grabbed it up. "Uh…yeah, I'm ready." He said distantly, his mind still preoccupied with the picture. He took down the directions to the burger place as Autumn recited them for him. "Okay, see you at six."

"K, see you later."

"Later." He said and hung up. He slumped back down on his pillow and closed his eyes again, clutching the picture against his chest.

* * *

That afternoon Twister returned home to clean up before meeting Autumn after spending the day with Otto and Sam. After showering and changing his clothes, he put on his blades and went outside only to find Otto, Reggie and Sam practicing street hockey in their court. There was no way to avoid it; he would have to skate right past them to leave his yard.

"Hey bro!" Otto called when he saw Twister.

"Hey." Twister responded quietly. As he walked toward them he briefly locked eyes with Reggie before focusing on Otto again.

"Want to practice with us? The team's just not the same without you." Sammy asked.

He wanted to stay and play with them more than anything—just like old times—but he couldn't bring himself to do it. His foolish pride wouldn't allow them to see how much he desperately wanted things to be normal again. He had to play it cool. "Nah, I've got something to do, Squid. Besides, I'm sure Otto can pick up the slack."

"I won't argue with _that_, but the Squid's right. It's not the same." Otto chimed in.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the four teens stood there staring at the ground, not sure what to say next. To everyone's surprise, Reggie was the first to speak again. "So…how've you been, Twister?" She suddenly blurted out.

"Oh…I-I've been fine. You?" He stuttered, briefly taken aback by her acknowledging him.

"Fine."

"That's good."

"Yeah. I mean, it's good that you're doing fine too." She said nervously. She felt like she was talking to someone she'd just met. After that, the two just gazed at each other for a few seconds. Each seemed like they wanted to say something more, but both held back.

"Well, I guess I need to go." Twister said.

"Ok bro. Catch ya later." Otto said, then skated off to look for the hockey puck.

"Yeah, later." Twister muttered, then turned to leave. A dull ache had settled into the pit of his stomach from seeing Reggie. As he made his way down the street, he looked forward to the night ahead so he could make the pain go away again.

After Twister left, Reggie began to skate back toward their house.

"Hey, what's your deal? We're not done playing!" Otto called.

"Sorry Otto, I don't feel good all of a sudden." She said and went inside.

'Why didn't I say something?' she thought to herself as climbed the stairs to her room. 'I had the perfect opportunity to tell him how I feel and I blew it!' She flopped on her bed and wept softly into her pillow.


	12. Ch 12: Twisting Places

Chapter 12: Twisting Places

(Both)

_I've thought about you for a long time_

_Can't seem to get you off my mind_

_I can't understand why were livin' life this way_

_I found your picture today_

_I swear I'll change my ways_

_I just called to say I want you to come back home_

_I found your picture today_

_I swear I'll change my ways_

_I just called to say I love you, come back home_

"Otto!" Reggie yelled to her little brother the following evening as she dug through her closet in search of her new pair of sneakers.

"What do you _want_?" His voice came from his bedroom, sounding irritated from being bothered.

"Have you seen my new sneakers? " She asked. "I swear I thought I put them in here." She wanted to look nice tonight because Lars was taking her to a restaurant. A _real_ restaurant with fancy decorations where people sit at tables and get waited on while soft music plays in the background—_not_ the Shore Shack. Sneakers were probably not the footwear that most people would chose to wear to a place of that nature, but she couldn't imagine trying to cram her foot into a pair of high-heels—not that she actually owned any. The best she could do was put on her _new_ sneakers, instead of the old ratty ones that she wore on a daily basis.

"How should _I_ know where you left your stupid shoes?" Otto responded with his usual 'like I give a damn' attitude.

"You could at least help me _look_." She was getting stressed now. She was supposed to meet Lars in his driveway in10 minutes. Giving up on finding them in the bottom of the closet, she began to search the top shelf. She pushed several boxes out of the way before finally recognizing the one that held her shoes. As she pulled it from the shelf, another object came tumbling down with it and landed right on her head.

"OWW!" She yelled, bringing her hand up to rub the bump that was already forming. Her eyes settled on the object that was lying face down next to her feet. She immediately recognized what it was. She picked it up and unconsciously sucked in a deep breath as she turned it over to look at it. The sight of his face in the picture caused her eyes to mist over.

"Why should I help you? So you're not late for your little date with _Lars_?" Otto's voice coming from the doorway started her back to the present. She had zoned out briefly and lost herself in thoughts of the way things used to be.

"Just forget it and leave me alone!" She shouted, taking out her frustration on Otto.

"Damn! First you tell me to help you, and then you say get out! Make up your mind!" Otto threw his hands in the air in exasperation before going back to his room.

A quick glance at the clock told her that she only had a few minutes left. She quickly put on her shoes and gave herself a quick check in the mirror before rushing out the door.

Lars wasn't in the driveway yet so she went up to the front door. Her finger was poised to ring the bell when the door suddenly opened. It wasn't Lars, but Twister who was staring at her with surprise from the other side of the threshold

"Hey." She said timidly.

"Hey…uh, sorry about that. I was on my way out wait in the driveway. Someone's meeting me here in a few minutes." Twister said, nervously adjusting his hat.

"I was just coming to see if Lars is ready to go."

"Yeah, I think he's almost ready."

"Oh."

"You can go in and wait…if you want." Twister offered.

"Thanks." Reggie turned to go into the house, but abruptly stopped in her tracks. She couldn't keep going on like this, pretending that everything was okay. She had to talk to him and tell him how she felt. Even if he still wanted nothing to do with her afterwards, at least she would have it off her chest. "Twister?"

"Yeah?" He turned to face her once again.

"Can we talk? Just for a second?"

"Sure, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders, then followed her to the curb to sit down.

"I don't know where to start." She said, feeling very awkward. "I-I miss you so much, Twister. I can't stop thinking about you."

Twister couldn't believe what he was hearing. Her words had shocked him so much that it took him almost a minute to respond. He could only sit and stare at her in wide-eyed amazement as his heart nearly pounded out of his chest. "I miss you too. I've wanted to talk to you for so long, but I thought you hated me. I'm _so_ sorry for how I acted that night at the pier. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. It haunts me every night, I made a huge mistake."

"It wasn't really your fault, Twister. I know how it must've looked from your point of view. I totally understand why you got so upset."

"I can't believe all this happened over some damn shoobie." He muttered.

"Lets just forget about it then. Forget about _everything_ in the past two weeks and pretend it never happened. I want things to go back like they were. I can't keep acting like everything's going great when I'm completely miserable without you...I love you, Twister." She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, silent tears trickling down her cheeks.

"I love you too, Reggie." He returned the embrace and gently tilted her head up to kiss her lips. Suddenly, the rest of the world melted away around them. Everything felt so _right_ once again.

"I missed you so much, Reggie." He murmured when they finally broke the kiss. "I swear I'll never hurt you again. I want to be with you _forever_."

The moment was broken when Twister caught movement from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see Lars watching them from the porch. He quickly jumped to his feet to go talk to him and Reggie followed close behind.

Lars didn't appear to be angry as they approached, but the hurt in his eyes was obvious. "You don't need to explain. I've been standing here the whole time." He spoke softly.

"I'm so sorry Lars." Reggie said sincerely. " I had a great time with you, but I just couldn't stop thinking about Twister. I'm sorry…."

"Don't worry about it, Reggie. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later so I prepared myself for it. It was fun while it lasted though." Lars shot her a weak smile. He gave Twister a brotherly slap on the back, then shoved something into his hand. "Your reservations are in 30 minutes, bro. You should probably be leaving."

Puzzled, Twister opened up the piece of paper and found a wad of cash along with the name and address of the restaurant that Lars was planning to take Reggie to. Completely shocked, Twister could only throw his arms around his brother in a tight hug. "Thanks bro! You're the best!"

"Hey, get off me, dork! Have you lost your mind?" Lars pushed Twister away from him, looking around to make sure that no one had witnessed the incident. "If you breathe one word of this to anybody, I'll give you the whomping of your life! Got it, lame-o?"

"Sure Lars. Couldn't have anyone thinking that you really _do_ have a heart, could we?" Twister joked.

"I _don't_ have a heart! I'm only doing this cause…cause…" Lars racked his brain, trying to think of a cleaver comeback, but his attention was diverted to the auburn-haired girl that was skating towards their house.

Twister followed Lars's gaze. "Oh shit! I forgot!" He said when he recognized who the girl was.

"Hey Twister!" Autumn called as she approached. "Is that your brother that you're always talking about?"

"Yeah. This is Lars and this is Reggie, Otto's sister."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Autumn said.

Reggie gave a weak smile, but made no attempt to be friendly to the girl. Sensing the tension in the air, Twister took Autumn's arm and pulled her into the house. "Be right back." He said to Reggie and Lars, closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing, I thought we were going to the pier?"

"I can't go tonight, Autumn…or any other night. I'm really sorry for doing this to you all of a sudden..." He said.

"Doing what? What are you talking about?" She interrupted, confused.

"It's a long story." Twister sighed. "Basically, before I met you, I was dating Reggie, but we broke up over something stupid and…"

"And now you're getting back together." She finished his sentence for him. "Now I see why she was so snotty to me."

"I'm really sorry, Autumn. I had no idea that this was going to happen." He studied her intently, trying to read her feelings that she was hiding so well. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'll be fine, I guess. I like you a lot, Twister, and I wish things could work out between us, but at least this is happening now. You know, before we got more involved."

"Yeah…I hope we can still be friends though." He said sincerely.

"Sure. I'll see you around, at Madtown or something."

"Awesome." He smiled, beginning to relax a little.

"Well, I guess I'll be going then." She started toward the door.

"Hold on. There's something else." He lightly grabbed her arm to halt her. "I really wish that you'd stop drinking Autumn. I know that I'm as guilty as you are, but I've only done it for a couple weeks. You've been doing it for a while. Sure, it's just for fun right now, but if you keep doing it, you could totally mess yourself up."

"I know." She said softly. He was surprised to hear her agree with him, he expected an argument. "I wish you'd said something earlier. I thought you liked it. I can't stand it. I only do it cause David and Chris do and well, they're the only people I have to hang around with."

"There's tons of people who'd like to hang out with you! Maybe they avoid you cause they know what kind of people Chris and David are. You need to stop hanging with those dudes!"

"You're right, Twister. David is my brother and all, but he's heading down a bad road. I'll going to talk to him when I get home. It probably won't do any good, but at least I'll try."

"Good. You're really sweet, Autumn. You'll find a great guy in no time."

"Thanks, Twister. I should probably go now. Reggie's waiting for you."

"Ok, see you around." He hugged her before opening the door.

Reggie and Lars looked up at them expectantly from their seats on the porch when they came out. "Bye." Autumn said softly, stepping past them.

"Hold on!" Lars spoke up as she was walking away "It's a shame that you came all this way for nothing. Wanna go grab a bite?"

"Uh…sure!" Autumn said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Sweet." Lars rose from his seat and joined her in the driveway.

Twister and Reggie just grinned at each other as they watched the two walk down the street together, happily lost in conversation. Without a word, they joined hands and started off on their own adventure.

_The End_

A/N: Thanks for reading, let me know how you liked the ending. I'm sure most of you already knew what was coming if you've ever heard the song, but I bet you didn't expect Autumn and Lars to hook up! And the morals of the story are:

1. Drinking doesn't make you cool.

2. Don't automatically assume someone hates you before you get a chance to talk to them.

3. Always listen to the other person's side of the story before jumping to conclusions.

4. Oh…and never kiss a shoobie!

Have fun guys, hopefully I'll get a chance to write something else soon! (If I do, I promise that I won't wait so long to finish it next time!) :-)


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